Conventionally, rear seats have a 6:4 split structure in which seat backs are split in a 6:4 ratio between a left side and a right side in the vehicle width direction, or a 4:2:4 split structure in which seat backs are split in a 4:2:4 ratio between a left side, a center and a right side in the vehicle width direction.
In the 6:4 split structure described above, an operation lever which performs a forward tilting operation of the left-side seat back is arranged on the left side of the luggage compartment walls, and an operation lever which performs a forward tilting operation of the right-side seat back is arranged on the right side of the luggage compartment walls, and there is no particular problem with this arrangement, but in the 4:2:4 split structure described above, a total of three operation levers are required, namely, an operation lever for performing a forward tilting operation of the left-side seat back, an operation lever for performing a forward tilting operation of the center seat back, and an operation lever for performing a forward tilting operation of the right-side seat back.
In this case, the operation lever for forwardly tilting the left seat back and the operation lever for forwardly tilting the right seat back may be provided respectively on the left and right side walls of the luggage compartment, but there is a problem of the installation position of the operation lever for forwardly tilting the center seat back, and supposing that the operation lever for forwardly tilting the center seat back is arranged in a vertical alignment with respect to either one of the operation levers for forwardly tilting the left and right seat backs, then there is a problem in that a compact arrangement of the total of three operation levers is difficult to achieve and the external appearance becomes worse, which is undesirable in design terms.
Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a rear seat having a 6:4 split structure in which a left-side seat back and a right-side seat back of a rear seat are split in a 6:4 ratio in the vehicle width direction, in which operation parts (corresponding to operation levers) for performing a forward tilting operation of the left and right seat backs are provided respectively on the left and right side faces of the luggage compartment, the left and right operation parts and a locking part on the seat back side being connected by a cable.
The conventional structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a structure in which the split seat backs are tilted forwards respectively and independently by individually disposed operation parts, and Patent Document 1 makes no disclosure or suggestion of any kind in respect of the technical idea of the present invention, namely, the compact arrangement of two operation levers.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-118456